Posted by CrescentParkAnon.
a resident of Crescent Park
on May 24, 2013 at 12:10 pm

&gt; Dondershine said her goal has been to restore her client's mental health and rehabilitate him. Williams has suffered from inadequately treated bipolar disorder with psychotic episodes since age 26, Dondershine said.

You know, when you consider how much these people cost us and how much security must be increased to prevent a nut from causing massive damage to many people ... I'd bet someone, maybe even a Republican, could put together a case that closing the mental hospitals and cutting treatment or quarantining them from society while they are judged irrational or dangerous was penny wise and pound foolish.

How much has this guy cost the state? 26 million, and how much in court time and prison administration?

Having our police constantly dealing with these recurring nuts that are allowed to walk among us also puts stress and strain and them and changes their modes of dealing with people when all they see are crazies. I am sure they are less able, willing and patient to deal with those in between people who never hurt anyone but just get classed in with all the other dangerous nuts.

Really look at cost/benefit and doing the actual work instead of just hand-waving and demonizing everything government does or did makes sense.

Posted by concerned citizen
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on May 24, 2013 at 12:37 pm

As the facts of this case came to light, I realized once that I passed the back alley of Walgreens and saw this fellow climbing up the building - some time before it burned down. And I am sure I am not the only one who saw this.

I agree with CrescentParkAnon.
An article from the NYT in 1984 looked into what went into the decision to release mental patients back into society, beginning with the statement: "THE policy that led to the release of most of the nation's mentally ill patients from the hospital to the community is now widely regarded as a major failure. Sweeping critiques of the policy, notably the recent report of the American Psychiatric Association, have spread the blame everywhere, faulting politicians, civil libertarian lawyers and psychiatrists. "

Posted by Aquamarine
a resident of Stanford
on May 24, 2013 at 3:59 pm

Dondershine's a pretty good attorney. It it nice to read that this mentally ill man had good representation and that he's doing well on whatever regimen has been working for him. Sometimes one can get lucky after arrest and get some help. If he's BPD1 there are some decent meds available, not just lithium. Stanford has a terrific BPD clinic - I don't know if they help the incarcerated, though.